Life  of  Richard  Henry  Wilde 
Charles  C.  Jones 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Cabors 


and 


ilir*, 


labors 

and 

C*    (firnuc 


(Thnrlcs  OD.  Clones.  3r.t  XL 


75 
5317 


RICHARD  HENRY  WILDE: 


HIS      LIFE,     LITERARY     LABORS,   AND 
NEGLECTED    GRAVE. 

In  the  remote  and  cedar-shadowed 

£2      portion  of  a  vegetable  garden  ap- 

£J      purtenant  to  what  was  once  his  own 

home,  and  what  is  now  the  residence 

£      of  Mr.    Fred    T.   Lockhart,   in    the 

*js      beautiful    village    of    Summerville, 

near  the   city  of  Augusta,    Georgia, 

— '       repose,  without  stone  or  even  grassy 

mound   to    designate    their  resting 

place,  the  remains  of  Richard  Hen- 

j«?      ry     Wilde.        Companion       graves 

in       there  are    in    this    neglected    spot, 

^J      but  they  are  all  unmarked  save  that 

g       of    an    infant    son     of     the     poet. 

The  author  of  "The  Lament  of  the 

Captive"  was  interred  just  south  of, 

and  in  proximity  to,  this  monument 

g      which,  more   than   fifty  years   ago, 

paternal  affection  erected  in   tender 

o      memory  of  the  delicate  flower   so 

soon  faded.     Few  among  the    living 

are  cognizant  of  the  precise  place  of 

£f      sepultiire;  and,  ere  the  recollection 

2      be  utterly  effaced,  we  would  fain  re- 

-t      vive  and  perpetuate  it  even  in  this 

"*      ephemeral    way.     Already  there  is 

nothing  to  inform  the  visitor  that 


449624 


the  illustrious  dead  is  slumbering 
here.  The  place  is  voiceless,  and 
our  mother  Earth  gives  no  token  of 
the  precious  trust  committed  to  her 
keeping.  Standing  amid  the  loneli- 
ness of  this  forgotten  spot, with  what 
peculiar  pathos  does  that  plaintive 
song  which,  with  prophetic  lips,  he 
sang  in  the  long  ago,  fall  upon  the 
attentive  ear. 

"My  life  is  like  the  summer  rose 
That  opens  to  the  morning  sky ; 
Eut,  ere  the  shades  of  evening  close, 
Is  scattered  on  the  ground— to  die. 

But,  on  the  rose's  humble  bed 
The  sweetest  dews  of  night  are  shed, 
As  if  she  wept  such  waste  to  see ; 
But  none  shall  weep  a  tear  for  me. 

My  life  is  like  the  autumn  leaf 
That  trembles  in  the  moon's  pale  ray ; 
It's  hold  is  frail,  its  date  is  brief, 
Restless,  and  soon  to  pass  away. 

Yet,  ere  that  leaf  shall  fall  and  fade, 
The  parent  tree  shall  mourn  its  fehade ; 
The  winds  bewail  the  leafless  tree ; 
But  none  shall  breathe  a  sigh  for  me. 

My  life  is  like  the  print  which  feet 
Have  left  on  Tampa's  desert  strand ; 
Soon  as  the  rising  tide  shall  beat, 
This  track  will  vanish  from  the  sand. 

Yet  still,  as  grieving  to  efface 

All  vestige  of  the  human  race, 

On  that  lone  shore  loud  moans  the  sea ; 

But  none  shall  e'er  lament  for  me. 

In  this  youthful  country  so  care- 
less of  and  indifierent  to  the  mem- 
ories of  other  days — where  no  law 
of  primogeniture  enjoins  upon  the 
son  the  conservation  of  the  abode 


and  the  heirlooms  of  his  father — 
where  new  fields  and  novel  enter- 
prises are  luring  succeeding  genera- 
tions from  the  gardens  which  de- 
lighted and  the  trees  which  shelter- 
ed those  who  have  gone  before, — 
where  paternal  estates  are,  without 
restraint,  alienated  at  public  and 
private  sale,  — where  landed  acquisi- 
tions are  too  often  at  the  mercy  of 
speculative  strangers,  and  family 
treasures,  established  inheritances, 
and  old  homesteads  are  seldom 
guarded  beyond  present  owner- 
ship,—  it  frequently  comes  to 
rthat  ancestral  graves 
neglected,  and  private 
burial  grounds  quickly  fall  a  prey  to 
disuse  and  oblivion.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  seems  a  folly  to 
commit  our  dead  to  the  guardian- 
ship of  aught  other  than  a  public 
cemetery,  where  sepulture  within  its 
walls  is  practicable. 

While 'it  is  true  that  "oblivion  is 
not  to  be  hired,"  while  it  may  not 
be  questioned  that  in  many  instances 
neglected  grave-stones  "tell  truth 
scarce  forty  years,"  it  is  most  appro- 
priate that  to  the  dead  should  be 
accorded  secure  repose  in  some  en- 
closure exempt  from  the  casualties 
of  utter  inattention  and  shielded 
from  the  mutations  incident  to  pri- 
vate ownership. 

What  Sir  Thomas  Browne 
quaintly  styles  "the  restless  in- 
quietude for  the  diuturnity  of 
our  memories,"  an  inclination  to  ac- 
cord permanent  and  honorable  se. 


pulture  to  the  distinguished  dead, 
and  a  desire  to  dignify  their  last  rest- 
ing places  by  suitable  monuments, 
have  characterized  mankind  in  all 
ages.  Sympathizing  in  this  senti- 
ment, we  fondly  hope  that  the  re- 
mains of  Mr.  Wilde  will,  at  an  early 
day,  be  removed  from  their  present 
nameless  grave,  and  that  they  will 
be  reinterred  in  our  city  cemetery 
with  a  suitable  commemorative 
stone.  This  removal  might  appro- 
priately be  accomplished  at  the  pub- 
lic charge.  It  is  entirely  probable 
that  the  relatives  of  the  deceased 
will  acquiesce  in  the  suggestion. 

The  name  and  fame  of  Richard 
Henry  Wilde  the  city  of  Augusta 
should  cherish  with  pride.  He  was 
no  ordinary  man,  and  his  "Lament 
of  the  Captive"  will  in  the  future,  as 
it  has  in  the  past,  embalm  his  mem- 
ory in  the  hearts  of  all  English- 
speaking  peoples.  Born  in  Dublin, 
Ireland,  on  the  24th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1789,  at  an  early  age  he  accom- 
panied his  father  who,  an  Irish 
patriot,  sought  refuge  in  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  from  the  troubles  and  dis- 
abilities which  at  home  he  could 
neither  surmount  nor  mitigate.  That 
father  dying  in  October  1802  and 
leaving  his  family  in  slender  circum- 
stances, young  Wilde  repaired  to 
Augusta,  Georgia,  where  he  found 
employment  in  a  dry-goods  store 
owned  and  managed  by  Captain 
John  Cormick.  So  soon  as  be  was 
fairly  established  in  this  position  he 


persuaded  his  mother  to  remove  with 
her  children  from  Baltimore  and 
locate  in  Augusta.  Shortly  after  her 
arrival,  in  association  with  her  son, 
she  opened  what  was  then  known  as 
a  general  store.  It  was  a  small  es- 
tablishment, but  it  sufficed,  in  a  fru- 
gal way,  to  maintain  the  family.  In 
this  business  was  Richard  Henry 
Wilde  engaged  for  some  seven 
years.  Meanwhile  he  was,  as  op- 
portunity offered,  diligently  occu- 
pied in  general,  reading  and  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge.  When 
about  eighteen  years  old  he  resolved 
to  study  law.  To  that  end  he  entered 
himself  as  a  student  in  the  office  of 
Joseph  Hutchinson,  Esq.  who  kindly 
assisted  him  by  the  loan  of  necessary 
text  books  and  aided  him  by  coun- 
sel and  instruction.  While  pursuing 
his  law  studies  he  continued  to  help 
his  mother,  and  gave  his  personal 
attention  to  the  conduct  of  the  store. 

At  the  March  term,  1809,  of  Greene 
Superior  Court,  after  an  examination 
which  elicited  the  commendation  of 
Bench  and  Bar,  he  was  admitted  to 
plead  and  practice  in  the  Georgia 
Courts.  He  was  then  twenty  years 
of  age.  Close  attention  to  business 
and  severe  study  had  somewhat  im- 
paired his  health;  but,  without 
pause,  he  entered  upon  a  profes- 
sional career  which  he  long  main- 
tained with  dignity,  probity,  and 
ability. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Georgia 
had  enacted  certain  laws  for  the 
alleviation  of  the  condition  of  debt- 


ors,  which  seriously  impaired  the 
obligation  of  contracts  and  hindered 
lawyers  in  the  lucrative  practice  of 
their  calling.  The  constitutionality 
of  this  legislation  was  vigorously 
attacked  by  Mr.  Wilde,  and  his  con- 
nection with  this  litigation  brought 
him  prominently  into  public  notice. 
So  earnest  was  he  in  his  opposition 
that  at  his  individual  charge  he 
printed  a  lengthy  and  carefully  con- 
sidered argument,  copies  of  which 
he  distributed  broadcast  throughout 
the  State.  It  exerted  a  potent  in- 
fluence in  moulding  the  opinion  of 
judges,  and  won  for  him  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  vigorous  and  capable 
lawyer.  His  abilities  received  public 
recognition  and  his  posit:on  at  the 
bar  was  confirmed  by  his  election  to 
the  office  of  Attorney-General  of  the 
State. 

When  but  a  fortnight  over  the 
constitutional  age,  Mr.  Wilde  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  National 
House  of  Representatives.  Defeated 
at  the  next  election,  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  which  he 
pursued  with  marked  vigor  and  suc- 
cess until  1828,  when  he  again  en- 
tered the  Hall  of  Representatives  at 
Washington,  and  continued  to  be  a 
member  of  the  Lower  House  until 
1835.  He  had  seen  short  service  in 
this  capacity  in  1825. 

He  was  an  attractive  specimen  of 
physical  and  intellectual  manhood. 
Six  feet  one  inch  in  height,  well 
proportioned,  graceful,  with  an  ex- 
pansive forehead,  black,  flowing  hair, 


an  emotional  mouth  and  bright  eyes, 
cheerful  in  his  disposition,  dignified 
and  yet  affable  in  his  address,  brim- 
ful of  anecdote,  eloquent  in  speech, 
impressive  in  action  and  quick  at 
repartee,  he  shone  alike  in  legislative 
halls,  at  the  bar,  and  in  the  social 
circle.  His  habit  was  to  rise  at  an 
early  hour,  take  a  long  walk  before 
breakfast,  and  then,  after  the  morn- 
ing meal,  devote  himself  to  the 
labors  of  the  day.  His  intellectual 
efforts  were,  in  the  main,  accom- 
plished while  the  sun  was  shining. 
They  seldom  extended  until  a  late 
hour  at  night.  His  evenings  were 
spent  in  relaxation  and  in  social 
pleasures. 

During  his  Congressional  career 
Mr.  Wilde  was  not  a  fre- 
quent speaker.  When  he 
rose,  his  utterances  were  character- 
ized by  careful  preparation.  His  re- 
torts in  debate,  while  good  humored, 
were  sufficiently  pungent  to  be  '-well 
remembered  by  his  antagonists." 
Never  were  his  arguments  addressed 
to  passion  or  party  prejudice.  In 
explanation  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
rever  a  warm  partisan,  he  remark- 
ed that  "he  had  found  no  party 
which  did  not  require  of  its  follow- 
ers what  no  honest  man  should,  and 
no  gentleman  would  do."  As  a 
natural  consequence  of  such  convic- 
tions and  conduct,  while  he  com- 
manded the  respect  and  esteem  of 
all,  he  was  never,  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  term,  "a  popular 
politician."  In  proof  of  the  promi- 


nent  position  he  occupied  among 
his  fellow-members  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that,  in  1834,  he  was  a  leading 
candidate  for  the  Speakership  of  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

Mr.  Griswold  truthfully  remarks 
that  "his  speeches  on  the  relative  ad- 
vantages of  a  Small  Note  curr  _jncy, 
on  the  Tariff,  and  on  the  Removal  of 
the  Deposits  by  General  Jackson, 
bear  witness  to  his  industry  and  sa- 
gacity as  apolitician;and  his  honesty 
can  hardly  be  questioned  even  upon 
his  own  caustic  rule,  since  he  gained 
nothing  by  it."  Perhaps  the  best 
remembered  utterance  of  Mr.  Wilde, 
during  his  Congressional  career, 
was  that  portion  of  his  speech  on 
the  Tariff  in  which  he  fixes 
his  gaze  upon  and  portrays  the 
characteristics  and  the  influences  of 
the  "Stars  of  the  XlVth  Congress." 
Mr.  Griswold  has  reproduced  it,  in 
association  with  a  part  of  his  "Re- 
view of  Campbell's  Life  of  Petrarch," 
in  his  "Prose  Writers  of  America." 

Differing  from  a  majority  of  his 
associates  upon  the  expediency  of  a 
Force  bill,  which  he  deemed  a  meas- 
ure calculated  to  produce  civil  war, 
and  having  allied  himself  with  those 
opposed  to  the  Administration  of 
President  Jackson,  Mr.  Wilde  was, 
at  the  election  of  1834,  defeated  for 
Congress.  Availing  himself  of  the 
opportunity  thus  afforded  for  the 
gratification  of  a  desire  which  he 
had  long  cherished,  he  sailed  for 
Europe  in  1835.  Two  years  were 
spent  in  intelligent  travel  and  care- 


9 


ful  observation  in  England,  France, 
Belgium,  Switzerland,  and  Italy. 
Yielding  to  the  attractions  of  the  lit- 
erature and  art  of  Italy,  for  which  he 
entertained  a  special  fondness,  he 
fixed  his  abode  in  Florence  and 
there,  during  the  ensuing  three 
years,  surrendered  himself  to  the 
study  of  the  paintings,  statuary, 
monuments,  traditions,  history,  and 
letters  of  this  famous  city.  The  life 
of  Torquato  Tasso  excited  his  pro- 
found and  melancholy  interest.  By 
his  short  and  brilliant  career  was 
his  imagination  captivated.  By  his 
subsequent  misfortunes  was  his  heart 
deeply  moved.  The  results  of  his 
study  of  the  life  and  writings, 
the  loves  and  the  transports 
of  this  poet,  were  given  to 
the  public  in  1842  in  two 
volumes  entitled  "Conjectures  and 
Researches  concerning  the  Love, 
Madness,  and  Imprisonment  of  Tor- 
quato Tasso."  The  materials  for  this 
work  were  collected  with  a  patient 
industry  surpassed  only  by  the  "clear 
and  luminous  manner  in  which  the 
author  lays  the  whole  evidence  be- 
fore the  reader,  and  by  the  ingenuity 
with  which  he  makes  his  deductions. 
The  whole  investigation  is  conducted 
with  the  care  and  skill  of  a  practiced 
lawyer."  Masterly  is  his  examina- 
tion of  Tasso 's  mysterious  history. 
Numerous  and  admirable  are  his 
translations  from  the  Italian,  and  his 
style  is  chaste  and  classic.  The  pub- 
lication of  these  volumes  added  very 
much  to  Mr.  Wilde's  literary  reputa- 


10 


tion  which,  hitherto,  rested  upon  his 
speeches,  occasional  essays,  and 
fugitive  poems. 

His  attention  was  next  directed  to 
the  translation  of  the  best  specimens 
of  Italian  lyric  poetry  and  to  the 
preparation  of  biographical  and 
critical  sketches  of  their  authors. 
While  engaged  upon  his  '  'Life  and 
Writings  of  Dante,"  through  the 
favor  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany 
he  obtained  privileged  access  to  the 
secret  archives  of  Florence  whence 
he  brought  to  light  many  interesting 
facts  "obscurely  known,  or  alto- 
gether forgotten  even  by  the  people 
of  Italy."  In  conducting  these  in- 
vestigations he  learned  from  an 
artist  of  the  probable  existence  of  a 
portrait  of  this  divine  poet,  from  the 
pencil  of  Giotto,  on  a  wall  in  the 
Bargello  which,  by  some  strange 
neglect.had  been  obscured  by  white- 
wash. The  Bargello  was,  in  ancient 
times,  both  a  prison  and  a  palace. 
Having  obtained  the  requisite  per- 
mission Mr.  Wilde  instituted  a  care- 
ful search  which,  after  the  lapse  of 
several  months,  resulted  in  the  dis- 
covery and  restoration  of  a  veritable 
portrait  of  Dante  "in  the  prime  of 
his  days."  This  event,  says  Wash- 
ington Irving,  "produced  through- 
out Italy  some  such  sensation  as  in 
England  would  follow  the  sudden 
discovery  of  a  well-authenticated 
likeness  of  Shakspeare,  with  a  dif- 
ference in  intensity  proportioned  to 
the  superior  sensitiveness  of  the 
Italians." 


11 


This  "Life  of  Dante"  exists,  we  be- 
lieve, only  in  manuscript.  If  we  are 
correctly  informed,  it  and  other 
Italian  studies  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Wilde  are  in  the  possession  of  his 
son,  Mr.  William  Camming  Wilde, 
of  New  Orleans,  whose  purpose  it  is 
to  publish  them  in  connection  with  a 
life  of  his  illustrious  father. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  United 
States  Mr.  Wilde  concluded  to  reside 
in  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  Thither 
he  went  in  the  latter  part  of  1842, 
and  there,  in  association  with  Mr. 
William  Micou,  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  For  some 
years  he  filled  the  chair  of  professor 
of  constitutional  law  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Louisiana.  In  1846  he  fell  a 
victim  to  yellow  fever.  Some  years 
afterwards  his  remains  were  brought 
to  Georgia  and  were  interred  at  his 
old  home  in  Summerville  by  the  side 
of  his  first-born  son  who  had  died  in 
early  childhood.  This,  it  is  said, 
was  in  accordance  with  his  own 
wish  and  the  desire  of  those  near 
and  dear  unto  him.  He  preferred 
to  sleep  in  the  midst  of  a  communi- 
ty by  the  elder  members  of  which  he 
had  been  so  thoroughly  esteemed 
and  honored. 

Two  portraits  of  Mr.  Wilde  are  in 
existence.  They  are  in  the  posses- 
sion of  his  sister, — the  venerable 
Mrs.  Ann  C.  Anthony  of  Augusta. 
One  of  them  was  painted  by  Parker 
in  1819,  and  the  other  by  the 
poet's  niece,  Miss  Clara 
Wilde,  just  after  his  re- 


12 

turn  from  Europe.  This  latter  por- 
trait has  been  engraved,  and  accom- 
panies the  sketch  of  Mr.  Wilde 
which  appears  in  Griswold's  "Prose 
Writers  of  America.11  To  that  sketch 
we  acknowledge  our  present  indebt- 


The  only  surviving  son  of  the  poet 
resides  in  New  Orleans  and  inherits 
the  literary  correspondence  and  un- 
published MSS  of  his  father.  He  it 
was  who,  in  1867,  through  Messrs. 
Ticknor  and  Fields  of  Boston,  gave 
to  the  lovers  of  poetry,  in  at- 
tractive form,  Hesperia,  which  his 
father  seems  to  have  left  in  condi- 
tion ready  for  the  printer.  Of  these 
cantos,  perpetuating  recollections  of 
incidents  and  travel  in  Florida,  Vir- 
ginia, Acadia  and  Louisiana,  we 
may  not  now  speak. 

Enviable  as  is  Mr.  Wilde's  reputa- 
tion as  a  lawyer,  an  advocate,  a 
statesman,  a  poet,  and  a  man  of  let- 
ters, he  is  best  known  as  the  author 
of  that  poem  commencing 

"My  life  is  like  the  summer  rose." 

Thus  is  he  always  remembered, 
and  in  those  pathetic  lines  will  he 
live  while  the  English  language  en- 
dures. From  Lord  Byron  did  they 
elicit  the  warmest  praise.  Long 
have  they  found  cordial  welcome 
and  safe  lodgment  in  the  general 
heart.  They  are  indeed  the  offspring 
of  that  poetic,  soul-inspiring,  divine 
afflatus  which  the  sweetest  singeis 
rarely  possess,  and  to  which  they 
seldom  give  apt  expression.  Of  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  were 


13 

composed  Mr.  Wilde  furnishes  this 
account  in  a  letter  to  an  intimate 
friend: 

"The  lines  in  question  you  will 
perceive  were  originally  intended  as 
part  of  a  longer  poem.  My  brother, 
the  late  James  Wilde,  was  an  officer 
of  the  United  States  army,  and  held 
a  subaltern  rank  in  the  expedition  of 
Colonel  John  Williams  against  the 
Seminole  Indians  of  Florida,  which 
first  broke  up  their  towns  and  stop- 
ped their  atrocities.  When  James 
returned  he  amused  my  mother,  then 
alive,  my  sisters  and  myself  with 
descriptions  of  the  orange  groves 
and  transparent  lakes,  the  beauty  of 
the  St.  John's  river,  and  of  the 
woods  and  swamps  of  Florida— a 
kind  of  fairy  land,  of  which  we  then 
knew  little  except  from  Bartram's  ec- 
stasies— interspersed  with  anecdotes 
of  his  campaign  and  companions. 
As  he  had  some  taste  himself,  I  used 
to  laugh  and  tell  him  1'i  immortal- 
ize his  exploits  in  an  epic.  Some 
stanzas  were  accordingly  written  for 
the  amusement  of  the  family  at  our 
meeting.  That  alas  !  was  destined 
never  to  take  place.  He  was  killed 
in  a  duel.*  His  violent  and  melan- 
choly death  put  an  end  to  my  poem; 
the  "third  stanza  of  the  first  frag- 
ment, which  alludes  to  his  fate,  being 
all  that  was  written  afterwards.  The 
verses,  particularly  "The  Lament  of 
the  Captive,"  were  read  by  the  fam- 
ily and  some  intimate  "acquaint- 

*With  Col.  Johnston. 


14 


ances;  among  the  rest,  the  pres- 
ent Secretary  of  State,f  and  a  gentle- 
man,— then  a  student  of  medicine, 
now  a  distinguished  phvsician  in 
Philadelphia.  The  latter,  after  much 
importunity,  procured  from  me  for 
a  lady  in  that  city  a  copy  of  'My 
life  is  like  the  summer  rose,'  with 
an  injunction  against  publicity 
which  the  lady  herself  did  not  vio- 
late; but  a  musical  composer  to 
whom  she  gave  the  words  for  the 
purpose  of  setting  them,  did;  and 
they  appeared,  I  think,  first  in  1815 
or  1816,  with  my  name  and  addition 
at  full  length,  to  my  no  small  an- 
noyance. Still,  I  never  avowed  them, 
and  though  constantly  republished 
in  the  newspapers  with  my  name 
and  a  poetical  reply,  I  maintained 
that  newspapers  were  no  authority, 
and  refused  to  answer  further." 

Subsequently  Mr.  Wilde  found 
cause  not  only  to  avow  the  author- 
ship of  this  poem  but  also  to  demon- 
strate to  those  who  accused  him  of 
plagiarism  the  absurdity  of  their 
charge.  In  a  charming  little  volume, 
printed  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Georgia  Historical  Society  in  1871, 
Mr.  Anthony  Barclay, — for  many 
years  the  British  Consul  in  Savan- 
nah, and  a  gentleman  of  refinement 
and  scholarly  tastes,— furnished  an 
authentic  account  of  the  "origin, 
mystery  and  explanation"  of  this  al- 
~eged  plagiarism.  He  it  was  who, 
as  a  matter  of  pleasantry,  and  for 

tThe  Hon.  JohnForsyth. 


u 


the  mystification  of  a  few  friends  in 
Savannah,  translated  the  "Lament 
of  the  Captive"  into  Greek  verse. 
When  this  translation  was  exhibited, 
some  pretended  to  recognize  it  as 
a  fragment  of  Alcaeus,  and  ignorant- 
ly  suggested  that  to  this  Greek  lyric- 
cal  poet  was  Mr.  Wilde  indebted  for 
the  tender  sentiments  and  truthful 
images  which  immortalized  his  pop- 
ular poem.  The  wonder  grew,  and 
quite  a  discussion  ensued  in 
several  of  the  journals  of  the  period. 
Meanwhile  a  claim  to  the  authorship 
of  the  poem  was  interposed  by  some 
friends  of  O'Kelly,  who  had  penned 
the  "Curse  of  Doneraile,"  and  sung 
wildly  though  sweetly  of  the  pictu- 
resque scenery  of  Lake  Killarney 
and  the  grandeur  of  the  Giant's 
Causeway.  Captain  Basil  Hall  men- 
tioned that  the  Countess  Purgstall 
read  the  lines  to  him  and  left 
him  under  the  impression  that  she 
had  composed  them.  "The  verses  had 
become  so  popular  that  they  were 
set  to  music;  and  the  name  of 
Tampa, — a  desolate  sea-beach  on 
the  coast  of  Florida, — was  changed 
into  Tempe,  the  loveliest  of  the 
wooded  valleys  of  Greece."  Thus 
did  the  plot  thicken,  and  manifestly 
to  the  annoyance  of  Mr.  Wilde.  It 
was  quickly  demonstrated,  however, 
that  neither  O'Kelly  nor  the  Count- 
ess Purgstall  could  substantiate  the 
shadow  of  a  claim  to  the  authorship 
of  this  poetical  gem;  and,  so  soon  as 
the  Greek  version  was  submitted  to 
the  criticism  of  competent  scholars, 


16 


it  became  apparent  that,  although 
pure  Greek,  the  alleged  fragment  of 
Alcaeus  was  not  Alcaic  Greek.  There 
was  a  total  absence  of  the  dialects 
which  incrust  the  Greek  poetry  of 
the  age  of  Alcseus. 

To  set  the  matter  at  rest  Mr.  Wilde 
addressed  the  following  communica- 
tion to  Mr.  Barclay: 

"WASHINGTON,  January  7,  1835. 

DEAR  SIR:  Relying  on  our  past  ac- 
quaintance and  your  known  urbani- 
ty to  pardon  the  liberty  I  take,  per- 
mit me  to  say,  without  further  pre- 
face, that  circumstances,  which  it  is 
unnecessary  to  detail,  concur  in 
pointing  you  out  as  the  author  of  a 
translation  into  Greek  of  some  fugi- 
tive verses  long  attributed  to,  but 
only  recently  avowed  by  me.  If  you 
are,  I  am  sure  the  task  was  executed 
only  to  amuse  the  leisure  hours  of  a 
gentleman  and  scholar,  or  at  most, 
for  the  sport  it  might  afford  you  to 
mystify  the  learned.  In  the  latter 
you  have  been  so  eminently  success- 
ful, if  the  work  is  yours,  that  a  re- 
sult has  been  produced  the  reverse, 
no  doubt,  of  your  intention  so  far 
as  respects  myself.  I  have  been  stig- 
matized with  plagiarism,  and  com- 
pelled, such  was  the  importance 
some  of  my  friends  attached  to  the 
charge,  to  deny  it  in  person.  Since 
then  an  article  in  the  Georgian  of 
the  twenty-seventh  of  December 
goes  far  to  exculpate  me  from  the 
pillage  of  Alcaeus,  and  excellent 
reasons  have  been  given  by  Greek 
scholars  to  show  the  piece  is  modern. 


17 


Nevertheless,  as  I  have  been  com- 
pelled to  do  penance  publicly,  in 
sheets  once  white,  for  this  sin  of  my 
youth,  it  would  relieve  me,  some- 
what, since  I  must  acknowledge 
the  foundling,  to  have  no  dis- 
pute about  the  paternity. 
The  Greek  fragment  is  so  well 
executed  as  to  deceive  many  of 
some  pretentious  to  scholarship. 
I  am  therefore  desirous  of  ob- 
taining for  publication,  in  such 
form  as  you  choose,  your  avowal 
of  the  authorship;  or,  if  you 
prefer  it,  your  simple  authority  for 
the  fact.  If  I  am  wrong  in  ascrib- 
ing it  to  you,  your  acquaintance 
with  the  society  of  Savannah  will 
perhaps  enable  you  to  inform  me  to 
whom  I  should  address  myself. 

"Permit  me  to  renew  the  assurance 
of  the  high  respect  and  regard  with 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear 
sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  WILDE. 

To  ANTHONY  BARCLAY,  ESQ., 
of  Savannah — now  in  New  York." 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Barclay  re- 
sponded : 

"NEW  YORK,  January  24th,  1835. 
My  Dear  Sir  : 

I  was  not  apprised  when  I  ad- 
dressed you  on  the  9th  instant,  nor 
for  some  days  after,  that  my  prose 
translation  into  Greek  of  your  beau- 
tiful ode,  beginning 

"Mv  life  is  like  the  summer  rose," 
had  been  published;  otherwise  I 
could  not  at  that  short  time  have 


18 


passed  over  the  circumstance  in  utter 
silence.  It  was  written  for  individ- 
ual amusement  with  exclusively  half 
a  dozen  acquaintance  in  Savannah, 
ind  without  the  slightest  intention 
of  its  going  further.  This  assertion 
will  account  for  the  abundant 
defects,  and  they  will  vouch 
for  its  truth.  1  as  little  believed 
that  any  credit,  beyond  the  hour  of 
surprise  among  my  acquaintance 
before  mentioned,  would  be  awarded 
to  my  crude  translation,  as  I  appre- 
hended that  any  doubt  could  be  cre- 
ated concerning  the  originality  of 
your  finished  production.  Metre 
and  prosodiacal  quantity  were  de- 
signedly disregarded;  and  this  fact 
was  sufficient  to  detect  the  spurious- 
ness  of  the  attempt,  and  to  vindicate 
me  from  any  suspicion  of  expecting 
a  successful  deception.  If  that  effect 
has  in  any  degree  been  brought 
about,  I  must  repeat,  (to  employ 
your  language,)  that  a  result  has 
been  produced  the  reverse  of  my  in- 
tention as  far  as  regards  yourself  from 
whose  brow,  I  have  had  good  reason 
to  believe,  for  the  last  sixteen  years 
or  more, that  modesty  alone  detained 
the  poetic  wreath.  I  cannot  say 
how  extremely  I  regret  the  indiscreet 
publication.  Truly  reluctant  how- 
ever, as  I  am  to  come  before  the 
public,  I  shall  feel  strong  inducement 
to  be  resigned,  if  the  translator  suc- 
ceed in  dragging  his  author  out  of 
concealment,  and  that  event  contrib- 
ute to  strip  all  masks  and  to  bestow 
honor  where  honor  is  due. 


1!) 


With  great  truth  and  regard,  I  am 
your  faithful  servant, 

ANTHONY  BARCLAY. 
Hon.  RICHARD  HENKY  WILDE,  M.  C., 

Washington,  D.  C." 

Of  the  pathetic  and  tender  senti- 
ments which  this  poem  contains,  of 
the  exquisite  truthfulness  of  its 
images,  and  of  the  melody  of  its 
versification,  nothing  may  be  spoken 
save  in  exalted  praise.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  another,  they  conspire  to 
confer  upon  the  author  a  fame  which 
nothing  so  brief  had  previously  se- 
cured even  to  the  masters  of  the 
lyre. 

In  discussing  the  use  of  words 
conveying  "a  resemblance  between 
the  sound  and  the  sense."  the  Hon. 
George  P.  Marsh,  in  his  '"Lectures 
on  the  English  Language,"  says  in 
the  whole  range  of  imitative  verse 
he  knows  no  line  superior,  perhaps 
none  equal,  to  this  in  Wilde's  cele- 
brated poem: 

"ON  THAT  LONE  SHORE  LOUD  MOANS 
THE  SEA." 

It  certainly  is  not  excelled  by  those 
oft-quoted  lines  of  Coleridge: 

"Day  after  day,  day  after  day, 
We  stuck,  nor  breath  nor  motion ; 
As  idle  as  a  painted  ship 
Upon  a  painted  ocean  " 

And  now  the  question  recurs:  shall 
the  bones  of  this  lawyer,  statesman, 
scholar,  poet,  be  permitted  to  lie 
longer  in  an  unmarked  and  obliter- 
ated grave  in  the  obscure  corner  of 


449624 


a  vegetable  garden?  Great  men  are 
the  glory  of  the  nation,  and  their 
ashes  are  entitled  to  proper  respect 
and  reasonable  care  at  the  hands 
of  succeeding  generations.  Will 
not  the  proper  authorities,  lifting 
themselves  above  the  monotony  of  a 
present  pregnant  with  utilitarian 
ideas  and  gravid  with  commercial 
methods,  recognize  the  general  obli- 
gation, give  practical  expression  to 
a  generous,  ennobling  sentiment, 
and  rescue  from  forgetfulness  the 
grave  of  this  adopted  Georgian  who, 
without  the  adjuvatives  of  birth  and 
fortune,  accomplished  so  much  in 
the  domain  of  letters  and  of  civiliza- 
tion? 

CHARLES  C.  JONES,  Jr. 

AUGUSTA,  GEORGIA, 

September  24th,  1885. 


•21 


RESPONSE  OF  A    BAVTIMOBB    LADY 

TO 
"MY    LIFE    IS    LIKE    THB     SUMMER     ROSE.' 


The  dews  of  night  may  fall  from  Heaven 
Upon  the  withered  rose's  bed, 
And  tears  of  fond  regret  be  given 
To  mourn  th  e  virtues  of  the  dead ; 
Yet  morning's  sun  the  dews  will  dry. 
And  tears  will  fade  from  sorrow's  eye, 
Affection's  pangs  be  lulled  to  sleep, 
And  even  love  forget  to  weep. 

The  tree  may  mourn  its  fallen  leaf, 
And  autumn  winds  bewail  its  bloom, 
And  friends  may  heave  a  sigh  of  grief 
O'er  those  who  sleep  within  the  tomb ; 
Yet  soon  will  Spring  renew  the  flowers. 
And  time  will  bring  more  smiling  hours : 
In  friendship's  heart  all  grief  will  die, 
And  even  love  forget  to  sigh. 

The  sea  may  on  the  desert  shore 
Lament  each  trace  it  bears  away. 
The  lonely  heart  its  grief  may  pour 
O'er  cherished  friendship's  fast  decay; 
Yet  when  all  track  is  lost  and  gone, 
The  waves  dance  bright  and  gaily  on ; 
Thus  soon  affection's  bonds  are  torn, 
And  even  love  forgets  to  mourn. 


arles  Colcock,   lawyer  anc 
rian,  was  born  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  Oct.  28,  1831,  son' 
of  the  Rev.  Charles  Colcock  Jones  (1804-63)  who, 
throughout  his  life,  was  the  friend  of  the  negro,  and 
did  much  toward  ameliorating  his  condition.  Charles 
the  younger  was  graduated  from  Princeton  in  1852, 
and  from  Harvard  law  school  in  1855.     He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  in  1856,  and 
began  the  practice  of  law  in  his  native  city,  having 
for  a  partner  at  first  John  Elliott  Ward,  afterward 
U.  S.  minister  to  China.     Mr.  Jones  was  mayor  of 
Savannah  in  1860-61,  and  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  civil  war  made  many  speeches  in  favor  of  seces- 
sion.    He  joined  the  Confederate  army  in  1862  as 
colonel  of  artillery,  which  branch  of  the  service 
prove     so  congenial  to  him  that  he  declined  to  ac- 
cept a    ommissiou  as  brigadier-general,  which  was   | 
offered  him.     Col.  Jones  >,urrendered  with  Gen.  Jo- 
seph E.  Johnston  in  April,  1865.     In  December  of 
that  year  he  moved  to  New,Irork  city,  practiced  law 
successfully   there    until    1876,    then    returned    to 
Georgia  and  settled  in  Augusta.     From  that  period 
he  devoted  all  his  leisure  time  to  literature,  and  to 
research  in  the  antiquarian  and    historical  lore  of 
his  native  state,  studying  with  especial  interest  the 
archaeological  remains  of  the  southern 
Indians.    The  results  of  Col.  Jones's  la- 
bors in  these  directions  proved  inval- 
uable contributions  to  national,  histor- 
ical and  biographical  annals.     His  two 
most  important  works  are,  undoubtedly, 
"  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians" 
(illus.,  New  York,  1873),  a  volume  at 
once  clear,  accurate  and  profound,  and 
which  won  for  the  author  the  deserved 
distinction  of  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from 
the    University  of  the    city  of   New 
York ;  and  the  ' '  History  of  Georgia  " 
(2  vols.,  Boston  and  New  York,  1883), 
of  which  the  New  York    "Nation" 
said  at  the  time:    "He   [Col.  Jones] 
has  given  us  a  history  of    his  state 
which  is  most  elaborate,  careful  and 
exhaustive."      Prominent    among   his 
other    writings    may    be    mentioned: 
"Monumental    Remains  of    Georgia"  (Savannah, 
1861);  "  Historical  Sketch  of  Tomo-chi  chi-Mico,  of 
the    Yarnacraws"  (1868);    "Siege   of   Savannah  in 
1779  "  (Albany.  1874);  "  Life  of  Commodore  Josiah 
Tatnall  "  (Savannah,  1878);  "  Dead  Towns  of  Geor- 
gia "  (1878);  "  Hernando  de  Soto,  and    his  March 
Through  Georgia"  (1880),  and  "Life,  Labors  and 
Neglected  Grave  of  Richard  Henry  Wilde  "  (1885). 
Col.  Jones  also  edited  his  father's*  "  History  of  the 
Church  of  God,"  "  Acts  Passed  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Colony  of  Georgia  from  1755  to  1774" 
(1881);  and  "Journal   of   the  Transactions   of   the 
Trustees  of  the   Colony  of   Georgia,   by   Rt.  Hon. 
John,    Earl  of  Egmont "  (1886).      CoL  Jones  was 
president  of  the  Confederate  survivors'  association 
of  Augusta  from  1879,  and  published  "Nine  An- 
nual Addresses,"  delivered  before  that  body  (1879- 
87).     He  died  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  July  19,  1893. 


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